And You Say Chi City

In the last year, I've been all over the Midwest for my job. I can't help but notice that every time I come home, it's the best part of the trip. That's not to say that I don't love going to all these places, and have incredible amounts of fun on these trips; but these trips make me appreciate being from Chicago even more. It's just so much better than everywhere else I've ever been (yes, this includes London). For FUZE, I've been to Peoria IL, Bloomington MN, St. Louis MO, Madison WI, Indianapolis IN, Cleveland and Cincinnati OH, Galena IL, Eau Claire WI, and of course my favorite, Minneapolis MN. Big cities, small bum-fuck towns, metropolises and hick towns... and St. Louis. And seeing as I've been in Chicago my entire life, I compare all these cities to Chicago.

Sometimes town are too small (Galena, Eau Claire), sometimes they're just shit-holes (Peoria, St. Louis), sometimes I think they suck because I didn't go in the right time of the year (a student-less Madison), sometimes they're flat out boring (Indianapolis, Cleveland), and sometimes the biggest storm of the decade hits and the entire city is out of power, causing me to miss Zambrano's no-hitter against the Astros last season (Fuck you very much, Cininnati).

But sometimes, there's that one city that is just like a smaller Chicago (Minneapolis). Maybe it's because I grew up listening to my favorite MC rap about Minneappleseed for the last 10 years, or because we had a great guy show us around (Thanks Chad!), or because they play host to the best English Pub I've ever been in, and the Worlds Best Selling Jameson Bar (Big Ginger like WHAT!?!).

Minneapolis to this day is the only FUZE location in which I was disappointed to be leaving. I even floated around the idea of moving up there. It's still kind of floating around in there.

Anyway, the whole point I'm trying to make, and I'm sure have failed miserably, it that Chicago is better than all those places. There's no place that can offer all the things that Chicago can. Where else can I live 50 yards from one of the oldest ballparks in the country? All the things this city has to offer; amazing museums, crappy sports teams, amazing food, great shows, dozens of music venues, hundreds of festivals, the Sears, I mean Willis? Tower. Walk out to the Shedd Aquarium (another favorite of mine) at night, turn around, look at the skyline in July and tell me you don't love this city.